Marquette Method

Introduction

The Marquette Method is a new method of Natural Family Planning (NFP) that was developed within the last 10 years. It employs the use of traditional signs of fertility (i.e. mucus) as well as modern signs of fertility (i.e. a handheld fertility monitor that measures hormones in the urine), in addition to an algorithm that helps identify the fertile window based on findings from the previous cycles.

Many modern methods are now starting to incorporate online and computer applications for charting, and the newest iteration of the Marquette Method also includes an online charting module (nfp.marquette.edu/portal). This is undergoing a revision to sync with a new iPhone application as well.

The Marquette Method has many recent research studies supporting its efficacy. The most recent study was a randomized trial compared using the monitor to using mucus alone for avoiding pregnancy and found that the typical use pregnancy rate with the monitor was 7 unintended pregnancies per 100 women per year and with mucus was 18.5 unintended pregnancies per 100 women per year (2). To avoid pregnancy during the breastfeeding transition, the typical use pregnancy rate was 8 unintended pregnancies per 100 women per year (3).